Wet and Dry
by Microsuede Mouse
Summary: Victoria's white t-shirt gets drenched one morning, and to avoid the inevitable distraction Eric lends her another shirt to wear. Unfortunately, the sight of her wearing his top is an even bigger turn-on. And there's nothing he can do to avoid it. / Erictoria, oneshot.


Look at me go, whoops. This is a bit goofy, especially at the beginning, but no more so than the show. Also hey, you know me, I couldn't resist slipping in some Charlaney hints. Hope you enjoy. Reviews will be met with great rejoicing. Cheers.

Fair warning, rated for makeouts 'n' stuff.

* * *

"And now you know… What's up, Warthogs." Eric and Victoria grinned at the camera until Laney removed her headset and signalled that they were off air.

"Excellent work, everyone," Mr. Denovi called out as he pushed his way into the studio from the hallway. Charlie jumped up and pulled the door open so that their advisor could lug in his watering can more easily.

Recently Mr. Denovi had decided that to win the heart of Miss Delphine, he should get her flowers. Strangely, though, he was convinced that he had to grow the flowers himself – and as a result the studio wall opposite the door was now lined with large flowerpots, filled with plants beginning to bloom. To the team's surprise, he was actually tending them with remarkable success. They did, however, require a great deal of water, hence the absolutely massive watering can in the teacher's arms.

Laney got up from the camera and wandered towards one of the stage lights. It was a new one they'd recently bought to replace a broken one, and she was still playing with the adjustments and positioning of it to get the effect she was after. Awkwardly she picked it up and tried to shuffle it forward a few inches. As she did so, the long cord was pulled just as Mr. Denovi was stepping on it – and before anyone could register what was happening, the teacher stumbled sideways and backwards. The watering can flew from his hands, and everyone shouted in sudden alarm, and the can flipped and drenched Victoria all the way down her front.

For a moment the room was silent as everybody stopped and stared at Victoria. Even Mr. Denovi, lying on the ground and clutching at the back of his head where it had struck the floor, was stunned. Finally Laney broke the silence with a wail: "I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!" The shock subsiding, Eric began to howl with laughter.

Victoria took a moment longer to make sure she was calm. "Don't worry, Laney, it was just an accident. Mr. Denovi, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," he said with a wince, sitting up. "Charlie, there's an ice pack in my lunch bag, in my office. Could you grab it for me?"

"Sure," Charlie answered with a nod. He disappeared into the office, returning a moment later with the ice in his hand and one of the teacher's cookies in his mouth. Handing over the ice and getting only the mildest of dirty looks from the injured advisor, Charlie then went over to comfort Laney, who was nearly hysterical with guilt.

Eric swallowed drily as he looked his cohost up and down. At first she had been shocked and indignant, and it had been hilarious, but now she just sighed and drooped her shoulders. Once he'd taken a better look at her the laughter had died in his throat. Her hair had gotten a bit damp, and hung heavily around her shoulders, but what he was really trying not to look at was her top: thin, white and soaked through. He could see way too much to be comfortable. Sounding strained, he said, "I think there's a towel in the prop closet." Then he shuffled stiffly away.

He navigated around Charlie and Laney – Charlie had pulled Laney close and kissed her on the head and offered her the rest of the cookie he'd taken from Mr. Denovi, which was a pretty impressive gesture coming from him – and opened the closet door. Stepping inside, he stopped to take a deep breath, trying very hard to put the pattern of Victoria's bra out of his mind. He refused to even address the feelings that had jumped up at the sight of it.

With a bit of digging he found the towel, and as an afterthought he grabbed a mop they had as well. After one more deep breath, he turned around and re-entered the studio. Laney was calming down as Charlie rubbed her back, Mr. Denovi was sitting by his flowers with the ice against the back of his head, and Victoria was making a feeble attempt at squeezing some of the water out of her hair.

Eric threw the towel around Victoria's shoulders from behind and immediately went to work mopping up the puddle around her feet, pointedly not looking up at her.

"Thanks, Eric," she sighed. "But, um. What… what're you doing?"

"Mopping," he answered shortly, not lifting his gaze.

She frowned. "I've… I've never seen you clean before, I don't think."

He licked his lips uncomfortably. Even though he was staring at the floor, the only picture in his head was that of her, sopping wet, her t-shirt practically see-through. "As funny as it would be if you slipped in this and fell, Mr. Denovi's already got the only ice pack, and you'd make a terrible co-anchor if you were unconscious."

Victoria gave him a strange look. "Okay…" she said skeptically. Then she turned and stepped carefully across the floor towards Charlie and Laney.

Once Eric had finished mopping up the water on the floor, he leaned the mop against the news desk and – to waste more time – dug out and put up a 'wet floor' sign. It was amazing, the things they had squirrelled away in the prop closet. Finally he approached his friends once again.

"Oh, Victoria, your shirt," Laney was lamenting.

"I know, I know," Victoria said, trying not to look too distressed. "It'll take ages to dry out, and I don't have a sweater or anything."

"I'd offer my hoodie," Charlie started, "but the pockets are full of snacks that I'm really going to need today."

Eric took one more involuntary glance down at Victoria's chest, then forced his eyes back up to her face. "I have a spare shirt in my locker," he said, voice tense. "You can borrow it."

The other three looked at him in surprise. Eric stared back awkwardly for a moment before swinging around and hurrying out of the room and across the hall to his locker. He fumbled with his lock, finally managing to get it open, grab the shirt – a simple long-sleeved button-down he normally wore over a t-shirt – and shut it again.

He went back into the studio and dumbly held it out to his cohost. She took it gingerly and held it up to her nose, then looked up at him in surprise. "It doesn't even smell," she observed.

He rolled his eyes. "It's only been there since yesterday. I was wearing it in the morning, but I got too warm, so I put it away. Forgot to take it home with me."

"Well, okay. I guess I can manage with it. Better than this," she said, glancing downward. Eric was relieved that she'd pulled the towel close around her shoulders.

Victoria cast a glance around the room and then stepped into the prop closet for a few moments. When she emerged, she had the wet towel and t-shirt in her hands and Eric's blue-and-navy gingham shirt tucked into her jeans and rolled up to her elbows. He felt his breath hitch in his throat. He had hoped that he could calm down was she was once again dressed in opaque clothing, but the sight of her in his top was more than he'd been prepared to handle.

"Aw, look at you!" Laney gushed. "You can make anything look cute, even when it's someone else's, and too big for you!"

Victoria smiled. "Thanks, Laney," she chuckled. "And thanks, Eric," she added, giving him a nod. He nodded uncomfortably back, swallowing again and cramming his hands deep into his pockets.

x

Never had Eric had such terribly mixed feelings about having several classes a day with Victoria. He sat in the back of every class – that wasn't unusual, it was just where he preferred to be – and, whenever he could, stared in frustration at the back of her head. If he hadn't wanted to admit to himself how much it turned him on to see her sopping wet, t-shirt turned transparent with water, then he certainly didn't want to think about how much it turned him on to watch her go about her day in his shirt. And for once, he couldn't even be an ass about it: there was no way he would ever admit to her what he was mad about.

So he did his best to act normally around her all day, but despite his best efforts, he did a lot of mumbling and averting his eyes and rubbing self-consciously at the back of his neck. She frowned a bit at his unusual behaviour, but to his relief she never asked. He tried hardest when they were on air: Victoria in his shirt for the whole school to see was bad enough. The last thing he wanted was to make everyone think that she was distracting him.

Even though she was.

Finally, the end of what must have been the world's longest Friday finally arrived. Back in the A/V studio, Victoria picked at her t-shirt where she'd hung it to dry. "It's still a bit damp," she sighed. "But I guess it'll have to do."

Eric stared at her back for a moment, draped with the blue fabric of his own shirt, and he heard words tumble of their own accord from his lips: "Just take mine. You can bring it back on Monday." He swallowed, the dryness in his mouth and throat still present. Once again he pushed his hands into his jeans pockets, self-conscious.

She turned to look at him, surprised. "You're sure?"

"Ye- yeah," he nodded, cursing himself for stuttering. Even if she didn't know why, she must have noticed that he was acting strangely. If there was one thing Eric never wanted Victoria to know, it was how he really felt about her. That would ruin everything.

"Well, okay, if you say so," she answered with a shrug. "Thanks Eric. See you."

"Yeah, bye," he responded, watching her leave the studio with a dumbfounded look on his face. What was he doing?

x

That evening, after supper, Eric lay in his bed bouncing a small ball against the ceiling. His parents had gone out to do some shopping. He was still restless from the school day: it was agitating, how distracting Victoria had been. Sure, she was annoying. Sure, he had always kinda liked her. And sure, he had always acted on that by getting on her nerves. But rarely did she ever do anything that made him want to pin her against a wall and kiss her breathless, especially for a whole day.

He had already gone for a bike ride. He had already taken the dog out to play fetch until she was too tired to bring back the ball. He had already had a long, scorching shower. But he was chock-full of energy, of frustration, that he couldn't seem to vent.

Eric was so wound up that when the doorbell rang it nearly scared him right out of his skin. He sprang off the bed, charged down the stairs and opened the door, his heart stopping when he found himself looking once again into Victoria's face.

"Hey," she said, lifting her eyebrows. "Can I, uh… come in for a sec?"

"Uh. Yeah," he answered, stepping back from the door, unable to take his eyes off of her. She had changed into another t-shirt, but was wearing his top over it. "You're still in my shirt."

"Yeah…" she admitted, swallowing and glancing down as he pushed the door shut. "I um, I washed it, and then I thought I'd just walk it back over, but then it got cool outside, so…"

"I told you it could wait until Monday," he said slowly.

"Sorry," she said. "And sorry to take your shirt all day, I feel a bit silly. Thanks, though, I do appreciate it; even if it made a few people look at me a bit funny."

"Why'd they look at you funny?" he asked. He didn't know why he was asking – he figured he knew the answer – but he just wanted to watch her face while she answered.

She looked back up, laughing a bit sheepishly. "Because they recognised it as _your_ shirt," she replied. "And, you know, it's uncommon enough for girls to wear boys' shirts. Especially boys they don't really like. It's usually kind of something they reserve for, y'know, boyfriends."

Eric felt his heart speed up a bit at that. Swallowing the uncomfortable lump in his throat, he searched her face, trying to think of something more to say. All he could think of was the girl in front of him; she took over his entire brain.

"Hey, um, Eric?" Victoria asked, frowning. "You've been acting a bit weird today. Like, weirder than usual kind of w-"

She was abruptly cut off as Eric seized her by the shoulders and yanked her forward, kissing her forcefully. He just couldn't take this anymore, not after the day he'd had, and he was probably making the worst decision of his seventeen-year life, but he had to do it.

When he finally pulled back from her, looking almost mad – he was so frustrated with her, and with himself – Victoria simply stared at him. Her eyes were wide with shock, but, amazingly, not anger. Her cheeks were flushed red, her lips slightly parted, her breathing just a little heavy. And then something else, slightly different, came into her eyes, and Eric recognised it without really identifying it, and on pure instinct he pushed her back against the wall in his narrow front hallway and kissed her again.

It took her a moment to respond, but suddenly she was lifting her arms up around his neck, pulling him closer, and when he nipped her lower lip she instantly granted him access. He took the opportunity to enjoy having her pressed against a wall, skimming his hands up and down her sides as the kiss deepened. He smiled into her as he pushed his shirt off her shoulders, beginning to trail his mouth along her jaw and down her neck. Through their ragged breathing and soft, excited laughs, neither of them heard the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway.

At the rattle of someone fiddling with the doorknob, Eric jumped backward, just in time for his parents to come in the door, laden with groceries. They gave the young pair a brief glance – "Oh, hello, Victoria, nice to see you," his mother said with a smile – before shuffling off towards the kitchen.

Eric and Victoria exchanged wide-eyed glances, and she wrung the borrowed shirt – which had fallen to her wrists – in her hands. "She uh, she just came to drop something off," Eric called to his parents, clearing his throat. "We're just gonna go upstairs for a moment, then she'll be on her way again."

"No rush," his mother called back.

Eric led the way up to his bedroom, instantly spinning around and shutting the door, pinning Victoria between him and it as he did so. He kissed her again, hard, and then resumed his route down the side of her neck, and now she bit her lip, trying to stay quiet.

"Do you think-" Victoria tried to say, then gasped as he nipped her skin. "-Do you think they saw?"

"Doesn't seem like it," he whispered into her ear, slowly kissing his way back from there to her mouth. After another moment he finally stood back and looked at her face, and her expression made him feel triumphant indeed. He smirked.

"So where did all that come from?" she asked quietly, pushing her hair out of her face and trying to regain her composure. She was still breathing heavily.

Eric leaned close to her face again. "You just looked so hot in my shirt. I couldn't deal with it anymore."

"Maybe I should wear your clothes more often, if it gets me a reward like that," she murmured, and his smile grew as he felt a whole new rush. His head was spinning. He pressed himself against her teasingly, just so she'd know exactly how he felt about that suggestion, and she lifted her eyebrows and laughed slightly.

"Wow," she breathed.

Grinning, he took his shirt from her hand and tossed it onto the bed. "This is one of my favourite shirts," he told her softly. Slowly he pulled away from her and wandered over to his dresser, opening a drawer. "But, you know, I wouldn't want to send you home in the cold with only short sleeves. Why don't you take this?" He handed her one of his hoodies.

She licked her lips slightly and unfolded it, pulling it on. "This should do the trick. I hope you won't mind if I decide to wear it to school on Monday."

"As long as you don't mind people assuming I'm your boyfriend," he answered with a playful look, stepping close to her once again.

Victoria smiled, quirking one eyebrow, and zipped up the sweater in answer.

A mischievous look on his face, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her one more time, just for good measure. She smiled against him and pulled him tighter, happily allowing him to have his way with her for a few moments before they pulled apart.

"I should probably go," she mumbled, eyes still shut. "You told your mom I wouldn't be long."

"Mmm, true," Eric agreed quietly. "Can I take you to a movie tomorrow?"

"That sounds fantastic," she answered. "Text me a time."

"I'll do that," he nodded. He placed a final, quick kiss on her lips and reluctantly let her go before opening the bedroom door and following her down the stairs.

His parents were still in the kitchen, so she tried to sound as casual as she could when she said, "See you, Eric."

And he tried to sound normal when he replied, "Yeah, Victoria, see you." Then she was out the door and walking down the street, back towards home. Eric hung out the front door, a small smile on his face as he watched her until she was out of sight.

"Eric," came his mother's voice from behind him. He turned around and winced at the sight of his parents standing in the kitchen door. From the looks on their faces, he knew instantly that they had seen him with Victoria after all.

"Mom, Dad, I'm so sorry," he began to explain hurriedly, unsure what excuse he could give, but he was interrupted when his father cracked a grin.

"Son," his dad chuckled. "We were just going to congratulate you. We've been waiting for this since you were about nine."

Eric stared at his parents, shocked, and they turned to each other and laughed. They retreated, still giggling, back into the kitchen. After a moment's stunned silence, Eric shook his head and went back up to his room.

He picked up the borrowed shirt and brought it to his nose, inhaling deeply. He smiled; it smelled like Victoria now. Like her house, like her laundry, and just the littlest bit like her favourite subtle perfume. With a grin, he tore his own t-shirt over his head and pulled on the blue one, happily absorbing the scent of her. Eyes shut, smile wide, he stretched out on the bed with his hands under his head and relaxed.


End file.
